This is the first competing renewal for this application requesting 8, 10, 12, 12, and 12 positions per year for a Medical Scientist Training Program by the Medical University of South Carolina. Funds made available as a result of this award will be used for the continued enrichment of the program, enhancement of our recruitment efforts and increase the size of the program. The fiscal and philosophical commitment by the institution, the Colleges of Medicine and Graduate Studies is very strong and will continue. The program was founded in 1980 and has steadily grown to its current size of 40 students. Simultaneous with the growth of the program has been a substantial growth of the research enterprise, with a doubling of extramural support over the last 5 years. The goal of this program is to train clinician-scientists, to become leaders in academic medicine. The program has a recruitment plan that incorporates a combination of personal letters to the highest performers on the MCAT in 12 states that include, Southeastern states, California, Illinois and New York; a recruitment CD, an updated web page, an 800 number, advertisements in Science, Assistant Dean for Admissions, aggressive recruitment of interviewees and recruitment of minority applicants. Trainees enter the program the summer before starting medical school and participate in a research rotation. They complete the first two years of medical school, enter into their graduate school years and conduct and complete their dissertation research and return to medical school to finish their clinical training. Between the first and second years of medical school they also conduct a research rotation. Key elements of the training program include; a strong training faculty with peer reviewed extramural funding, a significant training record with considerable expertise in cancer biology, cell signaling, cardiovascular biology, neuroscience, proteomics, structural biology and toxicology, a monthly research seminar series, biannual business meetings, an annual student research day, invited outside visitors who serve as role models, and sponsored attendance to present their research at national research meetings. In summary, this training program's trainees have demonstrated that they have gained national recognition for their scientific achievements as demonstrated by receiving honors and awards for their research, PIs on NIH awards for their research and assuming faculty or training positions at highly respected academic institutions. [unreadable] [unreadable]